18-29s holiday in Morocco

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Where possible we choose to travel by land rather than air. By minimizing the use of flights on our trips, we are making journeys more stimulating and more sustainable for travellers. This trip through Morocco does not include any flights.

Although Morocco doesn’t have the most extensive public transport system, on this trip we get you around as sustainably as possible. Whether that’s jumping on a train, grabbing a taxi or exploring on camel back! Making the most of public transport is great opportunity to chat with the friendly Moroccan people and exploring on foot allows the group to move around more freely, seeing the real Morocco.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Our suppliers are central to what we do and make our trips what they are. Before signing them up, we’ll always make sure that these individuals share our philosophy and stance on important environmental issues and support them to improve their practices wherever possible. Therefore, you can be sure that your local guide in the Atlas Mountains will never contribute to the problem of waste management. Hardly any waste collection takes place in the High Atlas, but our guides will always carry their rubbish back with them to Marrakech, something we actively encourage our passengers to do too.

Steps will be taken throughout your trip to further reduce our environmental impact while in country. Small measures can make a big difference to the overall picture and you will notice hopefully little actions as we go. For example, all travellers in the group will be encouraged to travel with refillable water bottles and purification tablets rather than purchasing water in plastic bottles to minimise waste and your group leader will also be on hand to advise on the responsible discarding of rubbish throughout the trip, recycling wherever possible.

We provide travellers with reusable fabric tote bags. The bags are made by women in the south west of Morocco, who are provided with learning materials and training in sewing and embroidery. Pollution was highlighted as an important issue in Morocco during the 2016 UN Climate Change Conference. Following the conference, the government banned the use of plastic bags in supermarkets and has supported initiatives from all industries to reduce waste.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We work closely with our operator to ensure that all our guides are local. Your leader will give a briefing on responsible tourism issues to help you understand how you can help to reduce your impact and maximise the benefits of your visit on the local community.

Throughout this fantastic trip, there are many opportunities to really experience how Moroccan people live, eat, and travel. We stay in locally run hotels, dine in local restaurants and use public transport whenever possible. Life is always locally flavoured, whether it be by drinking an avocado juice at a local bar, or trying Kefta (minced lamb mixed with spices and then grilled) at a roadside stall. The emphasis on this trip is on building and enjoying relationships within the communities we travel and throughout the trip you will stay in a variety of accommodation, all of them locally owned and run. We enjoy a homestay and home cooking in the Atlas Mountains and a small family-run riad in Essaouira.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

Our local guides are paid and treated fairly.

It’s important to understand that Morocco is still very focused on keeping local traditions alive. Religion also plays a very important role in the everyday lives of the local people here. When introducing our travellers to these places, we want to make sure no one behaves in a disrespectful way, either consciously or unconsciously. To help avoid this, we pre-educate our clients about customs in the region and ensure our local leader explains these ahead of starting the trip. In addition, when we sit down for a dinner with our hosts in Aroumd, there’s time to talk about the similarities and different between our cultures, customs and traditions. These sorts of discussions lead to a deeper mutual understanding and more respectful behaviour. This somewhat unplanned activity is highly valued by travellers and our local hosts alike.